1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a portable terminal device and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to a portable terminal device and a method of controlling the same, which can indicate whether a wireless connection to a network is possible, independently of whether the portable terminal device is turned on.
2. Description of the Related Art
As mobile telecommunications and wireless Internet are widely used, various services are wirelessly provided to a portable device through a network. Further, contrary to a desktop computer, which must be connected to a LAN cable through a LAN card in order to connect the portable device to the network, various terminals improving mobility and portability have been developed so as to connect the portable device to the network without being connected to the LAN cable whenever or wherever a user wants.
As a portable terminal device to connect to the network, there are a PDA (personal digital assistants), a web-pad, a portable computer, and so on. These portable terminal devices are handy to carry because a wireless LAN card is employed to connect to the network.
FIG. 4 illustrates a control block diagram of a conventional portable terminal device, focusing on a wireless communication part. As shown therein, the portable terminal device includes a system part 101 performing various operations, and controls a wireless transmitting/receiving part 107 transmitting/receiving an RF (radio frequency) signal, a signal processing part 105 processing the RF signal received from the wireless transmitting/receiving part 107, a data interface 103 transmitting a signal processed by the signal processing part 105 to the system part 101, and a main power supply 109 supplying electric power to the portable terminal device.
The wireless transmitting/receiving part 107 wirelessly receives the RF signal given through the network with an antenna (ATN), and wirelessly transmits data signal outputted from the system part 101 to the network with the antenna. Therefore, the wireless transmitting/receiving part 107 includes an amplifier, a modulator, a demodulator, etc., in order to process the RF signal. The signal processing part 105 converts the RF signal received from the wireless transmitting/receiving part 107 and the data signal outputted from the system part 101 through the data interface 103 into a base-band signal for transmitting and receiving.
With the configuration described above, the RF signal inputted through the wireless transmitting/receiving part 107 is transmitted to the system part 101 through the signal processing part 105 and the data interface 103, and the data signal outputted from the system part 101 is transmitted to the network through the data interface 103, the signal processing part 105, and the wireless transmitting/receiving part 107 so that the user transmits and receives data through the network.
In the conventional portable terminal device, if the user turns off the portable terminal device, the electric power is not supplied from the main power supply 109, thereby halting the portable terminal device. Therefore, the wireless transmission/reception of signals is also stopped.
However, wireless-connecting to the network may be impossible in a jamming area, such as subways, the inside of a building, etc., and the user cannot know whether a wireless connection to the network is possible without turning on the portable terminal device including the wireless transmitting/receiving function. Thus, the user has to check whether the wireless connection to the network is possible by turning on the portable terminal device in order to use the wireless transmission/reception of signals at a certain place.